The Blessings & Curses of Social Work

I've successfully completed the first week of the Spring 2013 semester, and I think that I will enjoy and be challenged by all my classes this semester. There's a heckuva lot of reading for each class though, so my biggest challenge will be staying on top of assignments and not letting myself be overwhelmed.

I will say though that being a social work major comes with many blessings and many curses... It's a blessing to be aware of things in this world and be able to enact some change around issues that we are passionate about. It's a blessing to learn theories and techniques to help others and empower them. It's a blessing to fight for justice and human rights.

It can be a curse though to know what we know about issues like homophobia, sexism, racism, classism, ableism, etc. To know the statistics, the horror stories. It's a curse to often not be able to open the eyes of even those close to us of some of these issues, and it's a curse to live from a social work perspective when much of the world does not. Life would be easier if we were still ignorant to the way things that are said or done can affect our fellow man. We wouldn't get hot under the collar or bothered or upset as easily. We'd have less bumpy relationships with friends and relatives who haven't had the opportunity to have the workshops, role-plays, classes, etc we have, and therefore might not know what they say is hurtful or could be.

But we also wouldn't be true to ourselves, to our major, or our future profession. And we especially would be letting down our fellow human beings. I am proud to be a social work major, even if I get a reputation as being difficult, or "the squeaky wheel", as the lovely Mary Mann calls those in our field. I know that the people whose opinions and love I value will still love me, even if they don't necessarily agree with me, and even better, I might actually be able to give them a new perspective that they hadn't thought of before.

This semester should be interesting - heavy academically, I'm more involved in leadership at Wesley, and I am hoping to become a regular volunteer at Zebra Coalition... I believe I can do it though, I simply need to stay focused, care for myself, pray a LOT and remember that what is meant to be will be.
♥